Two For the Road
by Frost Hobbit
Summary: Avery Carpenter's cousin Olivia has been cheated out of a lot of money. When she calls a friend, Sophie Devereaux, to help them get it back, she finds that Sophie isn't the only old friend she'll run into. But Eliot Spencer is the least of her worries.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is a fic centered around two original characters, one of whom, Avery, was introduced in my fic "Outsmarted." I don't think it's absolutely necessary to read that one to understand this one, but I might recommend it. Either way, enjoy the fic! This is the first of what will be five chapters.  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Leverage, I'm just borrowing the characters.**

Olivia sipped the cup of coffee Avery had made her. Sitting in Avery's kitchen, the cousins looked the absolute opposite of each other. Olivia was taller than Avery, and blonde, with glasses and a square face that still hadn't completely lost its baby fat. She currently was calm and collected, sitting peacefully at the kitchen table while her cousin paced back and forth. Petite and brunette, Avery's thin face was contorted with fury. "Nobody gets to screw you over like that!" she finally snapped. She pulled out her cell phone, punching a number in.

Olivia covered her face. "Avery, please. I'm perfectly capable of finding myself a different internship. Retaliation isn't necessary."

"It is necessary!" Avery said. "They took your parents' money! They took your money! I should've seen this coming and I'm sorry and I'm going to fix it!"

Olivia looked up at her incredulously. "How could you possibly have seen this coming?"

"Olivia, I con people and steal things for a living! It's a matter of pride." She rolled her eyes and put the phone to her ear.

Olivia slouched in her chair. "Who are you calling?"

"Shh!" Avery put a finger to her lips, listening to the phone ring.

Finally someone picked up. "Hello?" said a smooth, accented voice.

"Hi, may I speak to Sophie Devereaux?" Avery asked.

There was a pause. "This is Sophie," the woman said. "To whom am I speaking?"

"Sophie, this is Avery Carpenter. We worked a job together a few years ago."

"Avery!" Sophie sounded surprised. "Of course. Yes, I remember you. Why are you calling? Word is you're doing pretty well for yourself."

"Yeah, well, word is you're still in the game but playing by some different rules nowadays. You take down companies that screw people over, right?"

"Yes," Sophie said. "Pretty brief summary, but essentially that's what we do."

"Good!" Fury was still coursing through Avery's body. She couldn't let anyone get away with doing this to her family. "I've got a job for you."

xxx

Avery and Olivia met with Sophie in McRory's Tavern, where she introduced them to Nate Ford. They sat down across Sophie and Nate, and Nate spread his hands. "What kind of help are you looking for?"

Olivia looked down at her hands and picked nervously at her cuticles. Avery nudged her leg with her foot. "Tell."

"I applied for this internship," Olivia blurted out. "At this home security company. They design and then install home security systems and, um, I applied for the internship and it was going very well. They were going to hire me. They said I was one of the most exceptional applicants they'd had, and I would potentially have a very good future at their company if I performed as well as my resume showed I would. They were going to set me up with an office of my own, but I needed to make a payment to help pay for the computer and other equipment, but it was a paid internship. I would have earned all my money back. So I paid the money. My parents and I paid them. It was three hundred dollars for me and my parents paid the rest. I don't know how much it was, but it was quite an extensive sum. Um. And then – then they told me they couldn't hire me. They said some of the things on my resume didn't check out right, that my background check wasn't good enough. All kinds of insane things. So I didn't get the internship, but they didn't give my money back." Olivia bit her lip and looked over at Avery.

Avery drummed her fingernails on the table. "What I wanna know is what they needed the money for. Olivia did some little thing on the internet, asked around on a forum or something to see if she was the only intern who got screwed over like that, and she's not."

"You didn't think it odd that the company that wanted to employ you wanted to take your money?" Nate asked, raising his eyebrows.

"It was a really good opportunity," Olivia murmured, looking down. "And it's expensive equipment."

"No one's blaming you, Olivia," Sophie said gently. "What we're trying to figure out is what we can do about it."

"I want Olivia and her parents to get their money back," Avery said.

"And I don't want that company to con any more prospective interns out of their money and their opportunities," Olivia added. She pushed her glasses carefully up the bridge of her nose.

Nate started to speak, then Avery heard the front door of the tavern open and close. She glanced over her shoulder – and was shocked to see Eliot walking in, arguing heatedly with another, younger man. Eliot, from that time at the Mueller Museum. The guy she stole the tiara from. Her lips curled into a slight smile.

"Eliot. Hardison." Nate waved to get their attention. "Cut it out. We've got clients."

Eliot stopped short when he saw Avery's face. She smirked and gave him a little wave. Eliot furrowed his eyebrows. "What the hell are you doing here?"

The other man, Hardison, rolled his eyes. "Look, Eliot, I know you're in a bad mood – "

"I'm not in a bad mood, man."

"Yes, you are – Eliot, I know when you are – but that is no reason to take it out on the clients!" Hardison smacked Eliot on the back. "That's cold, man. Real cold."

Sophie looked back and forth between Eliot and Avery. "Wait – you two have met?"

"You know him?" Olivia asked, looking at Avery with wide eyes.

Comprehension dawned on Hardison's face. "Ohh – you guys _know_ each other!"

"Yeah, we've met," Eliot said shortly.

Sophie beamed. "Well, that's nice! I guess we aren't all strangers here after all!"

"Yup!" Avery beamed back. "I stole a tiara from him."

There was a brief silence, then Hardison burst into a fit of giggles. Eliot glared at him. "I'm sorry, man," Hardison choked. "But a tiara? You had a tiara?"

Eliot looked furious. "It was for a client!" he snapped. He shifted his glare to Avery. "And thanks to you, that client tried to kill me. Lucky for me he decided I wasn't important enough after I took down the first two guys!" Still scowling, he grabbed a chair and sat down next to Sophie. "What're you doing here?"

Avery smiled. "You're alive. That's all that's important, right? Here's a secret: people have tried to kill me, too." She tapped her fingernails on the table and ignored Olivia's shocked expression. "Anyway, as I was saying before you so rudely interrupted, Olivia and I need your help to take down Hemsworth Security."

"Hemsworth?" Hardison pulled up a chair, too. "That's one of the biggest names in the security business. You really wanna go after him?"

"You know about Hemsworth?" Olivia asked with interest.

"Girl, give me a break," Hardison said. "Those security systems are some of the hardest I've ever had to hack."

"Ooh, I know!" Olivia nodded emphatically. "But I appreciate the challenge. There's nothing quite like it once you're finally in. It's exhilarating!"

"You hack stuff for fun?" Eliot asked, looking at her incredulously.

Olivia tightened her lips. "Yep."

Eliot shook his head. "You and Hardison will get along."

"Wait a minute," Nate said, holding up his hands. "We need to figure out if we're doing this job – "

"What's to figure out, Nate?" Sophie asked. "She got her money stolen, we can get it back for her!"

"But if these are the most advanced security systems there are – " Nate started.

"You need someone who knows the company and all its weaknesses," Avery cut in. "Who also happens to be a computer genius." She tilted her head towards Olivia. "That's her."

Olivia lowered her head modestly. "I did graduate at the top of my class at Princeton. Next fall I'll be starting my master's degree at M.I.T."

"If Olivia and I help you, we can take them down, easily," Avery said. "We just need your help to figure out how to do it."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on." Nate rubbed his forehead. "We've already got a team of five. We've got a grifter and a hacker and they're both really good at what they do."

"Thank you, Nate," Hardison said.

"With all due respect," Olivia said, nodding her head to Hardison, "I'm sure you're perfectly adept at what you do, but the advantage of having me on your team is that I know the company. I know some of the employees because of the interview process for the alleged internship, and I know how the building is set up and how their security works."

Nate and Sophie exchanged a look. "It couldn't hurt to have her," Sophie said.

Hardison let out a squeak of dismay. "What? Sophie! Don't you trust me? I can hack the security system! I can hack that all day! I'll show you! I'll do it!"

"Hey," Olivia said. "If we work together I'm sure there's a lot we can learn from each other. I don't pretend to know everything."

Hardison crossed his arms and slumped back in his seat. "All right. All right, I see how it is. Fine. Fine. Y'all do what you want."

"I want in, too," Avery said.

Sophie looked at her. "There's not a lot of room for two grifters on one job, Avery. You know that."

"Yeah, I know. But we'll have to make it work." Avery leaned across the table. "This case is personal for me because it's my cousin, aunt, and uncle who lost money over this. I can't do it myself because I've never tried to take down a company before. I need someone to help Olivia and me do it, but I need to be in."

"Why?" Eliot asked.

Avery turned her head his way and smiled. "Because I'm a thief and I know how thieves are. Put simply, I just don't trust you." She glanced back at Sophie. "I'm sorry, I know we've worked together before – "

"Don't be sorry. It's understandable," Sophie said. "If you're more comfortable being part of the job, we can make that work. Of course."

Avery smiled at her. "Thank you."

Nate exchanged a look with Sophie, then heaved a sigh. "Looks like we've got work to do." He got to his feet. "Olivia, do you have any information on the company already? Things you might have left over from your interviews there?"

"Yes," said Olivia. "I still have the papers they gave me, but it's not very much. Oh, I also saved all my emails! I corresponded quite a bit with the internship director. Well…the alleged internship director."

"Good," Nate said. "Listen, we'll meet back here with the entire team – let's say tomorrow. And someone needs to call Parker and tell her to stop doing – uh, whatever Parker does in her free time, and make sure she knows we've got a job."

"Thank you!" Avery said, smiling. She got to her feet and shook Nate's hand. "Thank you so much. We appreciate it."

Nate waved it off. "Just be ready to do the job."

"Oh, I was born ready," Avery said. She thanked Sophie, then grabbed Olivia by the wrist. She grinned at Eliot as she passed him. "See you in a couple of hours!" she called over her shoulder as she and Olivia left the bar.

xxx

"Couldn't hurt to have her," Hardison muttered as he typed away furiously. "No little girl's gonna come in here and take my job, uh-uh."

"Hardison, stop complaining," Sophie said as she walked past him.

"Wait, who's taking Hardison's job and why?" Parker threw herself onto Nate's couch next to Eliot, who rolled his eyes and inched away from her.

"We've been over this, Parker, my friend Avery and her cousin Olivia are working this next job with us. It's personal for them."

"Eliot's friends with them too!" Hardison said without looking up from his computer.

Sophie rolled her eyes. "Yes, we'll all have to hear that story later. Look, they'll be here any minute so I'm going to wait downstairs with Nate. Hardison, make sure you're ready." Sophie turned and disappeared down the stairs.

Parker looked at Eliot. "How do you know them?"

Eliot sighed. "I only know Avery, and not very well."

"Uh-huh. Right. Man, I saw the way she was looking at you." Hardison looked up and nodded. "They got history, Parker, trust me."

Parker switched her gaze to Hardison. "History? Is that bad?"

Hardison shrugged. "I dunno. Eliot? Anything you want to share with the class?" He rested his chin in his hand and blinked at Eliot innocently.

Before Eliot got the chance to answer, Sophie reappeared with Nate, Avery, and Olivia in tow. Avery made a beeline for the table and then rummaged in her bag for a thin manila folder, which she slammed onto the table in front of Hardison.

"Okay," she said briskly. "Olivia and I got together all the information we could from what she had left over from her Hemsworth interviews. It's not very much, but I'm sure Olivia can pull some more info once she gets a chance to hack into the system." Hardison grunted in indignation and Avery bestowed a thin smile upon him. "Sorry, but I don't know you or what you can do, and I know Olivia can do it."

"Yeah, well, I can do it too," Hardison said sullenly. "Probably better."

"I don't know about better," Avery shot back.

"Avery, leave it," Olivia said with a groan. She sat down at the table as Eliot and the others gathered around it as well.

Nate put his hand on Avery's arm. "Why don't you let me get started? Have a seat. Hardison and I will walk you through what we're going to do." He walked to the front of the room. "Everybody, sit down. Hardison?"

"Shouldn't Olivia and I tell you what we know before – "

"We'll get to you," Nate said. "Right now, I just want to go over the basics of the company for people who don't know."

"But if we're the ones who've actually dealt with the company, shouldn't we – "

"Look, if you want in on the con, you're gonna have to let me do things my way," Nate said testily. "Sit down, please, and let Hardison start."

With a huff, Avery sat down in the chair next to Eliot. Eliot leaned over to her. "Just let him do his thing," he muttered. "Be patient. It'll pay off."

Avery looked over at him as Hardison started explaining what Hemsworth Security was. "This is a really personal job for me, and I just want to be sure it's going to go the way it needs to, which means we need to have as much information as possible – "

"We've got it," Eliot said. "Trust me." He gave her a small smile.

"I don't have much of a choice," Avery said, rolling her eyes.

"Hey, you called us, sweetheart," Eliot said. "No one's making you – "

"Eliot, really?" Sophie cut in sharply. She looked exasperated.

"What?" Eliot snapped.

"I'm trying to listen to Hardison, and you're talking," Sophie said, a slightly wounded note in her voice.

"Thank you, Sophie," Hardison said before glaring at Eliot. "It's disrespectful, man!"

"I didn't – " Eliot started to protest, then decided it wasn't worth it. "Fine. Continue."

Hardison snorted indignantly then pressed a button on the remote control. A picture of an older, heavyset man filled the screen. "So, Richard Hemsworth. CEO of the company. He's in charge of everything. If there's anything going on at the company, it has to get approved by him first."

"So if they're trying to con the interns out of their money, it all comes back to him," Sophie said, glancing at Olivia, who sat to Sophie's left. "Does that add up with what you went through?"

Olivia bit her lip and thought for a moment before answering. "Yes, I suppose," she finally said. "I worked mostly with their head of internships, but clearly it all comes back to him."

"Great." Nate stood up. "So here's what we need to do."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Here's chapter two of five! Also, I know people have been reading this because I got a bunch of notifications about alerts...if you guys wanted to leave reviews that would be really cool! Thanks for reading!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Leverage.  
**

The plan sounded simple enough when Nate explained it all. However, Eliot knew plans that sounded simple usually were a lot more complicated once you looked closely at them.

In Eliot's opinion, Sophie was a little too thrilled about the opportunity to work with another grifter – "Another _good_ grifter," Sophie said to him when he brought it up. "Avery's been doing this for years, and it's quite remarkable how far she's come since I last saw her, from what I've heard. I'm excited to see her in action. That's all."

They were getting ready to go for the first day of the con. Sophie and Avery were dressed to character as representatives from an English security company that was interested in selling some of their assets to Hemsworth. They were standing in Nate's living room, discussing their plan. Olivia and Hardison were at the table, huddled over laptops, doing something complicated and probably extraordinarily geeky.

Parker jumped over the back of the couch to sit next to Eliot. She was dressed all in black, with her hair tucked into a black stocking cap. She grinned at him in her devilish Parker way that usually meant she was about to do something dangerous. "Ready?"

He glanced around the room at the other pairs hard at work. One Sophie and one Hardison was enough and now Eliot had two of both to deal with. He pulled his own stocking cap over his head and mentally thanked God for Parker. "Let's go."

xxx

"Thank you for taking the time to meet with us, Mr. Hemsworth," Sophie said as she and Avery walked down the hallway of Hemsworth Security's office building with him.

"Please, it's no trouble at all!" Hemsworth said, giving them a smile. He paused next to his office door and pulled out his keys to unlock it. Avery tensed for a moment, hoping Eliot and Parker had done their job and gotten out quickly, but it turned out she needn't have worried. Hemsworth's large office was empty. He went and sat behind his desk, gesturing for Sophie and Avery to sit in the two chairs opposite him. "My second in command, Simon Drake, should be here any moment."

"Excellent," said Sophie with a smile. "Now, Mr. Hemsworth, as you know, Safe House Security is based in London, but we're very interested in opening a branch here in the States."

"Understandable," Hemsworth said, nodding. "But what do you want with my company?"

Sophie and Avery exchanged a look and Sophie gave him another soft smile. "Mr. Hemsworth, what my associate and I are proposing would be a very good opportunity for both of our companies. A chance for both of us to expand overseas. If we could organize a partnership between our London branch and this one – perhaps give some of your interns the opportunity to go to London and vice versa – "

"I'm afraid we don't have any interns at the moment," Hemsworth said abruptly. "It's been impossible to find someone qualified to work with our security systems."

"But you've had applicants?" Avery said, raising her eyebrows.

"We have," said a voice at the door. A younger, shorter man had appeared behind them. "No one's been qualified. Background check goes wrong, their qualifications aren't up to their standards….we're a very selective company."

Hemsworth stood up. "Simon, come in. Ladies, this is Simon Drake, my second in command and the man in charge of our internship program."

"It's so nice to meet you," Sophie said, standing to shake Drake's hand. "I'm Margaret Coswell, and this is Nancy Walker."

Avery shook Drake's hand in turn and smiled, careful to let her eyes linger on his a little longer than necessary. She needed him to like her. "We've had plenty of excellent interns at our offices in London," Avery said, making sure her English accent did not waver. "If you'd like, we could discuss some ideas about bringing some of our interns here, while Ms. Coswell goes over business details with Mr. Hemsworth."

Drake looked at Hemsworth, who nodded. Drake appeared flustered. "Well – well, sure. Um, could you come with me, please, Ms. Walker?"

"Please," Avery said with a wide smile. "Call me Nancy."

Drake smiled back and gave a nervous laugh. "Okay. Nancy. This way."

"Remember," Nate said over the earpiece Hardison had given her, "all you need to do is keep him talking a few minutes, then we'll get him out of his office so you and Eliot can do a search."

"How are you going to do that?" Avery asked quietly as she walked down the hallway after Drake.

"Already on it," Olivia said. "I'll set off the security systems at his home. He'll rush out to check on it, so he'll be gone for awhile, giving you an ample amount of time to search his office."

"Good," Avery said softly. "Eliot? You ready?"

"I've got him," Parker said cheerfully.

"We're on the roof. I'll wait until Drake's out of the office and I'll meet you there," Eliot said.

Drake opened the door to his office. "After you," he said, gesturing her inside.

"Thank you, Mr. Drake." Avery walked into the office and took a seat, smoothing her skirt down over her knees. "Now, regarding the internships – "

Drake's phone rang. He jumped. "Excuse me, please. I need to take this."

"Please!" Avery smiled and leaned back in her chair while he answered his phone.

"Yes, this is he. What? How can that be possible? No, I – all right, I'm on my way." He hung up the phone and looked at her with an expression he probably hoped was apologetic but Avery could tell was relieved. "There's been a security breach at my home."

"Oh, no!" Avery feigned distress.

"I'm so sorry, but I'll have to leave immediately." Drake began gathering papers and throwing them into a briefcase that had been sitting next to his desk. "Um, can you show yourself out?"

"Of course." Avery watched Drake walk out of the office and a good distance down the hall before shutting the office door and locking herself in. "Eliot? Ready."

"Open the window. I'm coming down."

Avery opened the window just in time to see Eliot dropping down from the roof of the building, attached to a harness. "Don't you think there's a better way to get down here than jumping off a building?" she asked as she pulled him inside.

Eliot shrugged, unstrapping himself from the harness. "Not when you've got Parker on your team." He pulled what looked like a jump drive from his pocket and approached the computer. "Hardison, tell me how to use this thing."

"Made it easy for you, man," Hardison said over the comm. "All you have to do is stick it in the side and it'll copy the contents of the hard drive to me."

Eliot jammed the drive into the side of Drake's computer. While he waited for the hard drive to copy, he crouched next to the desk and pulled open a drawer to look for. "You gonna help me or just stand there? I know your usual jobs involve a lot less of this and a lot more of looking cute in a dress, but lookin' pretty isn't gonna be enough here."

Avery raised her eyebrows. She knelt next to Drake's desk and pulled open the bottom drawer. "You still mad at me or what?"

"Please, sweetie, don't flatter yourself." Eliot laughed. "Just making sure you do your part in this thing. It was all your idea anyway."

Avery yanked out a file that looking promising and slammed it onto the desk loudly. Eliot turned to look at her. "If you think I look pretty, then thanks for the compliment," Avery said coolly, leaning down so her face was only a few inches away from his. "But if you think that's all I do, then think again. And I know you know better than that."

"Yeah," Eliot said, his voice rough. "That's the problem."

"Guys, come on," Nate said over the comm. "Search the room and get out. Deal with your issues later. You're on the job!"

"Sorry, Nate," Eliot snapped, not sounding very sorry.

"The hard drive's been copied to me," Hardison said. "Go ahead and get out anytime."

Eliot pulled the disc out of the computer. "On our way."

xxx

"Guys, we've got a problem," Nate said when they'd all gathered back at his apartment later that day.

"Yeah, tell me about it," snorted Hardison. "Hemsworth? Guy is clean as a whistle. Not so much as a speeding ticket in the last five years."

"Are you kidding me?" said Avery. "The entire con is based on taking Hemsworth down! You're telling me he's not behind it?"

"Hardison and I went through everything on his hard drive that Sophie got to us," Olivia said, shrugging. "There's absolutely no evidence to suggest that he has anything to do with the interns getting scammed."

Avery threw her hands into the air and slumped back on the couch. "Great. What are we supposed to do now?"

"Well, hold on, hold on!" Nate held up his hands to pacify her. "It's not Hemsworth, but we do know who's behind it. Hardison, want to explain?"

"It's Drake, man," Hardison said. He opened up the computer he had on his lap and spun it around to show everyone. "Look, he's been sending emails back and forth to someone named Malone for the past several months. Looks like he owes this Malone guy a lot of money he couldn't pay back, so he's been stealing it all bit by bit from the interns."

"Which means we can still get this guy, if we give him an offer he can't refuse," Nate said firmly. "Soph? Avery? Shift the focus from Hemsworth to Drake. Tomorrow we need to get him on the hook. Hardison, find out everything you can about Malone. We need to know if we can use this guy."

Switching a plan halfway through wasn't Avery's idea of a good con, and she made a face, which Sophie noticed. "No, no, don't worry! We've still got it under control! Look, Drake liked you today, so tomorrow all we have to do is make him love you."

"Of course he liked me," Avery said. "I can make anyone like me. I'm just worried about – "

"Where Drake's been taking the money, right?" Olivia said. She, like Hardison, was already working furiously on her computer. "I'm already working on it. Drake borrowed a substantial amount of money from Jack Malone, who appears to run a ring of organized crime in the area."

"So like us," Parker said. She slurped soda noisily from a huge cup she'd gotten from the gas station on the way back to Nate's.

"More malicious crimes than the ones we tend to commit," Olivia said, frowning. "Murder. Arson. Drug running. These people do it all."

"So what we have to do is get Drake's desire for money to overpower his fear of Malone," Sophie said slowly. "And I think we know how to do that."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Chapter three of five! Thanks for reading. Reviews would be appreciated!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.  
**

Avery and Sophie sat in Simon Drake's office, trying to explain to him their new proposition. "Your colleague Mr. Hemsworth is very reluctant to branch out the company," Avery said with a shrug. "We thought perhaps someone younger, less set in his ways, might have an interest in what we're proposing?"

Drake shuffled the papers on his desk, visibly nervous. "Ladies – I, uh, I'm not so sure I ought to be discussing this right now. I'm a very busy man!"

"We understand, Mr. Drake," Sophie said smoothly. "Believe me, I know how stressful it can be to be second in command. In some ways, it's worse than being the CEO! You do all the grunt work for this company, you check and double check everything, you interview all the prospective interns, you crunch all that data – it's just so much!"

"And you're not getting enough recognition for it here, are you, Mr. Drake?" Avery asked. "Simon. May I call you Simon?"

Drake sputtered and made a few noncommittal noises.

"Simon," Avery said, leaning forward. "How would you like to work with Margaret and myself on a very exciting project?"

"What about Richard?" asked Drake.

"I don't think there's really any need to involve him, do you?" Avery said, giving him a knowing smile. "It's you we want."

Drake was hooked. It didn't take long after Avery and Sophie explained their false business venture to him – they were going to expand their London-based security company to the States, and wanted to make him the chairman in charge of the United States branch, giving him much more power and freedom to do what he liked. And thanks to Hardison and Olivia's quick work, the websites and documents they had to show him checked out perfectly.

"Man," Hardison said as he and Olivia packed their equipment up, getting ready to drive their van back to Nate's. "We are just too good. Am I right, or am I right?"

"I agree wholeheartedly!" said Olivia cheerfully. "It really couldn't have gone any smoother – "

A loud pounding on the back door of the van cut her off.

"Open up in there! Do you hear me? Open this goddamn van right now!"

xxx

"Well, that went well!" Sophie said as she and Avery crossed the street, aiming for the van where Olivia and Hardison were set up.

"Surprisingly," Avery said. "I thought he might be too nervous to go along with it. But I guess it is al in knowing exactly what the mark wants." She smirked at Sophie and knocked on the back of Hardison's van. "Liv! We're done! Drake is on the hook and we're closing the deal tomorrow." There was no response. Avery furrowed her brow and knocked harder. "Olivia?"

"Hardison?" Sophie reached past Avery and pulled the back door of the van open.

Every piece of equipment that Hardison and Olivia had loaded into the van this morning was still there. Olivia's laptop was still even turned on, though it had been dropped on the floor in a haphazard way Avery knew Olivia would never do. However full of electronics the van was, it was completely devoid of the most important thing.

"Hardison and Olivia aren't here," Sophie said, speaking to Nate and the others over their comms. "Did someone talk to them?"

"What do you mean, they're not there?" Eliot asked.

"The van's empty. They're gone. Somebody please tell me you talked to them," Avery said.

Sophie went and checked the driver's side door. "The keys are still here!" she said, holding them up. "Maybe – maybe they went to get coffee or something."

Avery climbed into the back of the van. "That doesn't explain why their comms are on the floor back here."

"Nate, I don't like this," Eliot snarled.

"Neither do I," Nate said grimly. "Okay, Sophie, Avery, get back here right away. We need to figure out what's going on."

xxx

Back at Nate's apartment, Avery sat on the couch next to Sophie, her knees drawn up to her chest. She bit anxiously at her thumbnail.

"How did we lose them?" snarled Eliot, pacing back and forth. "Someone wanna explain to me how this happened?"

"We've lost communication with people before, right?" Parker said. She looked pale and withdrawn. "Maybe Hardison's playing a joke."

"If this is a joke, he's getting his ass kicked when we find him," Eliot snapped.

"Has anyone tried calling them?" Nate said patiently. "We could be blowing this whole thing out of proportion."

Everyone fell silent for a moment, then Avery pulled out her cell phone. "Sophie tried Hardison, but his phone was off. Olivia always has hers on, so maybe…" She hit the button to dial Olivia's number and put the phone on speaker.

An unfamiliar male voice answered. "Yes?"

"I don't know who you are, but that cell phone doesn't belong to you," Avery said coldly.

"Taking things that don't belong to us seems to be a pretty common theme today, doesn't it? Tell that to Nate Ford if he's listening," said the man.

Avery furrowed her brow and looked up at Nate, who sat down next to her. "He's listening," Nate said. "Who is this?"

"Jack Malone. You might have heard of me from your little computer specialists. I hear they did a bit of research on me before you started trying to take my money."

Nate furrowed his brow. "No, you've got it wrong. We're not trying to take your money."

"Mr. Ford, listen to me. I own Simon Drake. He's so far in debt to me that every penny he makes should come directly to me, but he's been very reluctant to give me that money back," Malone said. "Now, I know what you folks are trying to do. My men have been watching your van since you got there yesterday. You're trying to swindle Drake out of two hundred thousand dollars!"

"And you want us to stop?" Avery said.

"Not at all, sweetheart. I want you to keep going. Get that money, and get it to me. I'll text an address to this number, somewhere for you to meet me. I want the money by tomorrow evening, and maybe then your friends will be able to come home." There was a click, and the line went dead, leaving everyone speechless.

Parker finally broke the silence. "So what do we do now?"

"We go home, get some rest tonight," Nate said with a sigh. "Meet back tomorrow bright and early. Let's steal back our hackers."

xxx

Olivia stirred. Her head throbbed and when she lifted a hand to touch her forehead, she found that she was handcuffed. She sat up as best she could, which made the world spin. She didn't know where she was, but it was dark, and slightly blurry because her glasses were missing.

She heard a groan from someone next to her and she jumped. "A-Alec?"

"Yeah. That you, Olivia?" She heard him sitting up. "Why's it so dark? Why am I handcuffed? Why does my head hurt?" Hardison's voice rose in panic. "What's going on?"

"We appear to have been abducted," Olivia said. She drew her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them.

"Man, can't you just say 'kidnapped?'" Olivia wasn't sure if she was misreading his tone, but he sounded annoyed.

"'Abducted' works too," Olivia said softly. "But I'm sorry."

"Hey," he said more gently. "Don't be. It's okay. I wasn't mad."

"All right." Olivia ran her hand through her hair. "Are you okay?"

"My head hurts and I'm handcuffed, but otherwise, yeah," Hardison said. "You?"

"Same as you," Olivia responded. "I don't suppose you see my glasses anywhere, do you?"

"Just a minute." Olivia heard Hardison moving around. "Oh – oh, here, I think I found them."

Fumbling through the darkness and encumbered by the handcuffs, Olivia managed to take her glasses from Hardison and put them on. It didn't improve much on the lighting, but at least she could see Hardison instead of just a darker blur in the dark. "Where are we?"

"Feels like the back of moving van if you ask me," Hardison said. "Feels like we stopped moving. Definitely pulled us out of our van, though, or we'd still have our computers and stuff. Maybe we could send a message to the others if we did."

Olivia shrugged. "I don't expect that would do us much good. We don't know our captors' identity or even our location."

"Maybe – maybe one of us still has our cell phone?" Hardison said hopefully. "Get a GPS location, send it their way, and boom. Instant rescue."

Any intelligent kidnapper would have taken their cell phones away long ago, but Olivia checked her pockets to give Hardison's idea a shot. "Mine's missing."

"Mine too." Hardison heaved a huge sigh. "Guess we're on our own."

Olivia nodded and rested her chin on her knee. "Alec?"

"Yeah?"

"This – this ever happen to you before?"

Hardison grunted. "Well, not this _exact_ thing but I've been in a lot of tough situations before. I mean, we're criminals. They should put this in the job description."

Olivia laughed nervously, more because she didn't know what else to say then anything. "Um, Alec?"

"Yes?" Hardison said slowly.

"A-are you frightened?"

Hardison paused. "Yeah, but they're gonna come for us. There's gotta be a reason they took us. They want something, which means they're not gonna – " Hardison stopped talking, but not before Olivia realized where that sentence was going.

"They're not going to murder us," Olivia finished for him.

"Hey, I said not! And you're the one who said murder, not me!" Hardison sounded panicky again.

"All right, all right!" Olivia stood up and stumbled her way to the back of the moving van. She pushed on it, banged on the door and tried to lift it, but it was locked from the outside. She hadn't really expected to get out that way, but it had been worth a shot. She sat back down next to Hardison. "I don't think there's much we can do. The van is locked and neither of us have the skill to break out of the vehicle. That's not our area of expertise, is it?"

"Nope," Hardison said. He leaned back against the wall. "So now we wait."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N Chapter four of five here! If anyone wants to review, that'd be cool! If not, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing,**

Avery stood in front of the mirror in Nate's bathroom. She was getting ready to go with Eliot to scope out the address Malone had texted to her, then hopefully figure out where they were keeping Olivia and Hardison from there. She had an alias ready to go in case they were ambushed. Malone and his men probably wouldn't recognize them, so Avery was to be the renegade daughter of a mob boss, with Eliot as her bodyguard. She was decked out in a red dress and heels, with a black purse to sling over her shoulder.

Staring at her face in the mirror, she saw her own eyes fill up with tears and willed herself not to let them fall. They were going to get Olivia back. That was all part of the plan, that was why Parker was going with Sophie today and not her. But Olivia shouldn't even have been kidnapped in the first place. What were they doing to her? Avery carefully applied her red lipstick and started on her mascara. Were they scaring her? Hurting her? Olivia was young, practically a kid. And if Avery hadn't insisted on getting payback for the money Olivia had lost…

Tears spilled down her cheeks and Avery dropped the mascara wand, which tumbled into the sink and left a black streak. She covered her face with her hands and tried to muffle her sobs, but when she looked up, Parker was standing in the doorway, eyeing her apprehensively. Once Parker saw Avery's tearstained face, she turned. "Sophie!" Parker shouted, hurrying away from the bathroom.

Eliot looked up when he heard Parker coming. She looked agitated. "Avery's crying," she said. "Where's Sophie?"

Eliot exchanged a look with Nate. "Sophie already left."

Parker looked at him, eyes wide. "But Avery's _crying_."

"Well, I – I guess someone should go talk to her," Nate said uncertainly.

Parker quickly put her finger on her nose. Nate rolled his eyes. "Parker, we've been over this. The nose thing doesn't count if you don't announce it – "

"Nate, you seriously want Parker to try and get someone who's crying to stop?" Eliot demanded. "Why don't you just go see what's wrong?"

"Why don't you?" Parker asked, her finger still on her nose. "You're the one that knows her."

"I don't know her, Parker," Eliot said. "I slept with her. There's a difference."

"So what?" Parker said. She poked her nose harder, squashing it against her face. Irritably Eliot grabbed her hand and moved it. "You still know her better than me and Nate do."

"She's right," Nate said. "Go see what's the matter." He patted Eliot on the shoulder and walked off.

"What about you?" Eliot called after him.

"I'm busy!" Nate said. To demonstrate, he sat down in the chair and began poring over the files they'd stolen from Drake's office.

Eliot rolled his eyes and stomped up the stairs to the bathroom, where he found Avery bent over the sink, still crying. "Hey," he said roughly.

Avery jumped and looked up at him. "Oh, God." She stood up straight and began wiping the tears off her face. "Don't say a word."

Eliot furrowed his brow. "I'm not here to gloat or anything." He leaned against the doorframe and folded his arms.

"Y-you're not?"

Eliot shrugged, bewildered. "Why would I do that?"

Avery looked down. "I don't know, I guess." She heaved a sigh and continued wiping her face, though all she succeeded in doing was to smear mascara everywhere. "I tend to see the worst in people."

"I'm with you there," Eliot said. "But me and those guys? We're good people. And we're gonna get her back. We want her back as much as you do."

"You want Hardison back," Avery corrected him. "Olivia is just a bonus for you."

"No, she's not!" Eliot said, probably sounding angrier than he'd intended. "Avery, we're not gonna let those guys keep on holding our client hostage. That's not how we operate."

Avery nodded, then pressed her hands to her mouth again. Eliot could see her struggling to regain control over her emotions. "She shouldn't even be in that position to begin with," she said abruptly. "I was the one who said – "

"It's not your fault," Eliot interrupted. Avery stopped talking and looked at him. He shook his head. "Things happen. Nothin' you can do about it, so how about you stop beating yourself up over it and get to work on getting her back?"

Avery nodded emphatically and turned back to the mirror. She made a noise of disgust. "Great, now I look gross." She turned on the water and let it run. "I'll have to start over on the makeup."

Eliot eyed her distastefully. "Ever think you don't really need all that makeup?"

Avery gave him a slightly wounded look. "It's not about _me_ needing it, Eliot. It's about what the con needs." She bent over the sink and splashed water over her face, getting rid of the dark streaks that covered her face. "It's amazing what the slightest difference in makeup can do for the character you play." She began reapplying foundation. "When I met you I was Daisy Valentine, right? Well, she's completely different from Nancy Walker, which is who I was yesterday, but today I'm Bridget Mosconi, daughter of a mob boss. That means darker lashes, red lips, smooth, sleek hair – we want to sell the Italian look, right?" Eliot watched as she put the red lipstick on. "You don't have to be so condescending about the way I do things, because it works. Everything I do, everything I wear, the way I walk and the way I talk is all part of the con. And it all starts here." She drew a circle in the air around her face. "It's not hard to become a completely different person when you don't recognize the person looking back at you from the mirror as yourself."

Eliot watched her carefully. "So if it's all part of the con, how do I know what's real?"

"You don't," came the short response. She snapped her container of blush shut and went to work on her eyelashes.

"So the day I met you – "

"Some of it was real," Avery said.

Eliot furrowed his brow. "Well, what parts?"

"Figure that out on your own." She finished with the mascara and turned to look at him. It was pretty remarkable, what she could do with makeup alone. "But I'll tell you one thing."

"I'm listening."

She took a step closer to him. "I'm getting my cousin back. And if anyone – I mean _anyone_ – gets in my way, I will kill them." She raised her eyebrows. "And that _is_ true."

Eliot smiled softly. "Don't try to kill me, sweetheart. You'll be out cold before you hit the floor."

"Let's not make it come to that." She gave him a smile and walked out of the bathroom.

xxx

The address Malone had given Avery turned out to be an abandoned warehouse. Avery and Eliot sat in the car. His eyes were focused on the building, as though he were sizing up the situation. "You don't think this is a setup, do you?" Avery asked him.

"No," Eliot said. "They're not expecting us until tonight, but I'd be really surprised if Malone didn't have some of his men already staking this place out just in case we decide to show up."

"So we go in character," Avery said. "I didn't put all this together for nothing anyway."

Eliot pulled his black stocking cap onto his head. "All right. Don't go looking for trouble, okay? We're just trying to find Hardison and Olivia."

Avery rolled her eyes and got out of the car without answering. She walked straight for the warehouse without looking back, and Eliot had to run to catch up with her. "You couldn't really look any more conspicuous," he said in a warning tone.

"All part of the plan, right?" Avery said. They reached the door of the warehouse and Avery tried the handle. It squeaked loudly but opened. Avery walked inside, motioning for Eliot to follow.

Right away they saw what appeared to be a lone man pacing back and forth in the warehouse. He spotted them almost immediately and began running over to them, drawing his cell phone out of his pocket. Eliot caught him before he reached Avery and yanked the cell phone away. "Now don't think about comin' any closer to her unless she says so," Eliot snarled.

The man looked back and forth between the two of them. "Who are you people?" he asked, a little nervously.

"Who is she?" Eliot growled, backing away from him to stand slightly in front of Avery, obscuring her from view. "Lemme tell you, buddy, she's somebody whose good side you wanna be on."

Avery waved her hand. "Johnny, it's okay, you can move," she said in the most obnoxious East Coast accent she could muster. "I wanna see this guy."

Eliot stepped aside and Avery stared the man down. He wasn't very tall, and he had short hair and a nervous look about him. "You work for Jack Malone?"

The man drew himself up. "And if I do? Who are you to be asking, lady?"

"Don't take that tone with her," Eliot said, stepping forward threateningly.

"Johnny, lay off of him," Avery said. She looked at the man. "I'm Ben Mosconi's little girl."

"Who?"

"You don't know who Ben Mosconi is?" Avery said incredulously. She laughed. "Buddy, you must be low down on the ranks! My daddy owns half of New Jersey, pal."

"The mob?" said the man blankly.

"Damn straight," Avery said. "Way I hear it your boss Malone is in some trouble with my old man. I'm here to do a little preliminary negotiation, if you know what I mean. Heard a lot of people sayin' he does business down here at this warehouse." She looked around, pursing her lips. "Little empty for doin' business in, seems like."

"Malone is busy today," said the man stiffly. "Another business endeavor is in the works."

"Hey, you wanna try explainin' that to my daddy tomorrow?" Avery said, rolling her eyes. "He expects me back with Malone's answer. And you know if it's not the answer he wants to hear…" Avery drew her finger across her throat significantly. "Somebody's losin' a little more than their job, you know? Not me, of course, but you can probably say goodbye to Johnny over here. C'mon, buddy. Help a girl out? Gimme an address I can find Malone at?"

The man paused as if he were considering. Then suddenly he stepped forward. "Hold on a minute." He pulled out a flashlight and shined it on Avery's face. "You're – you're one of those people running the con on Simon Drake!"

"Excuse me, pal?" Avery said, squinting around the light. "You got me mixed up with somebody."

"No, no, I haven't," said the man angrily. "I saw your face on the security footage. You're trying to play me too!" Hurriedly the man pulled out a gun but Eliot was on him immediately. He got the gun away and kicked it across the floor.

"Look, man, we're just doing a little research, trying to make sure Malone's gonna keep his word…" Eliot said, but Avery pulled her own gun out of her purse.

"Take me to Malone," she said, advancing on the man. "Right now, or I'll shoot."

"Avery!" shouted Eliot. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Getting our friends back," she snapped. She pointed the gun directly at the man's chest. "Take me to them. Now!"

The man turned and ran. Eliot rushed after him and after he caught up to him, it only took a few swift punches for him the end up unconscious on the floor.

"What is the matter with you?" Eliot yelled, walking back to Avery."You don't point a gun at the mark!"

"He's not the mark, he's a pawn." Avery lifted the gun again, this time pointing it directly at Eliot. "And what do you think you're doing?"

Eliot glared at her dangerously. "You put that down."

"No," Avery said shortly. "I told you. You don't get in my way getting Olivia back, understand me?"

"I said, put it down!" Eliot lunged for her. In an instant, he spun her around so her back was to his chest, knocked the gun away, and pinned her arms behind her back. Avery gave a little yelp of pain.

"Now that was so easy it wasn't even fun," Eliot muttered in her ear.

"You're a little sick, has anyone ever told you that?" Avery hissed.

"You're the one hiding a gun in your purse, sweetheart." Eliot lifted her off her feet and carried her a few steps away before setting her down and going to pick up her gun himself. He dismantled the gun and dumped the bullets out, then threw it aside. "What happened to the plan?"

"The plan was to find Olivia and Hardison, which is what I was doing!" Avery shouted.

"No," Eliot said, approaching her. "What you were doing is crazy, and if he'd gotten away, you probably would have just gotten Hardison or Olivia killed."

Taken aback, Avery blinked up at him uncertainly. "Wh-what?"

"They have two hostages," Eliot said angrily. "If they want the money, they only have to keep one of them, because they know we won't just ditch the other if one dies!" He glared at her ferociously. "So if this guy wakes up and runs back to his boss, and Malone gets pissed, what's stopping him from taking it out on one of them?"

Avery's stomach dropped. "Is that likely?" she asked weakly.

Eliot shrugged. "Dunno. Don't know enough about Malone to know yet, which is why we were supposed to be careful and stick to the plan!" He looked so angry that Avery took a few steps backward. For a split second she thought he might actually hit her.

Instead he ground his fist into the palm of his hand and clearly bit back what Avery was sure would have been a more cutting remark. "Come on," he muttered, turning his back on her. "Let's get back to Nate. And, Avery?"

"What?"

"Pull something like that again and I'll do more than take apart the gun."

"As if you could hurt me." Avery stalked past him for the door.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N This is the fifth and final part to this story, but it's certainly not the last thing I'll write about Avery and Olivia, so be on the lookout for more fics about them! Thanks for reading.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Leverage.  
**

"Sophie, tell me you have some good news," Nate said as she and Parker walked into his condo. Avery sat on the couch, slouched down with her arms folded. She and Eliot had barely spoken to each other since they'd gotten back and Nate had given up trying.

"We've got the money," Sophie said slowly, sitting down next to Avery. "But Nate, we need that to get Hardison and Olivia back, we're not going to be able to get it to Olivia and the other victims, unless – Eliot, did you and Avery – "

"Nope," Eliot said. He glared at her. Avery rolled her eyes and looked away.

"Why, what happened?" Parker asked.

"He recognized my face from the security cameras," Avery said. "I wanted to get him to take us to Malone anyway, but Eliot thought it was better if we cleared out."

"Guys, guys." Nate lifted his hands. "There's no need to passive-aggressively blame each other. Things happen, but the point is we've got the money, they picked the meeting place, and I've got the plan."

xxx

After hearing Nate's plan, Avery had to admit it was a good one. Whatever else Nate Ford might be, he was smart. Besides, Sophie trusted him and Avery trusted Sophie.

The new plan didn't call for the daughter of a mob boss anymore, so Avery stepped the back room of the bar under Nate's apartment to change her clothes. She dropped her bag on the floor and rummaged in it for jeans and a clean top. She heard footsteps approaching the door and looked up to see Eliot. He stopped when he saw her. "Sorry," he said. "Sophie said you have the file on Drake. Mind if I take it to her?"

"Oh – no problem," Avery said. She reached into her bag and handed the file to Eliot. "Hey, I wanted to talk to you anyway." She unwrapped the black shawl she'd been wearing over her red dress and folded it carefully. "Unzip me?"

Eliot sighed, looking as though he'd rather be anywhere but there. He pulled the zipper of her dress about halfway down, then let go.

"There's no need to act so pained about it," Avery said as she dropped the dress to the floor. "Look away if you're uncomfortable."

"I'm not," Eliot said. He leaned against the wall and idly flipped through Drake's file.

Avery stepped into her skinny jeans. "So what's your deal?" she asked Eliot, her back to him.

"What do you mean, what's my deal?" Eliot asked.

"Well, you liked me when we first met." Avery pulled her shirt over her head and tugged it down. "Past couple of days, you've been a little nasty."

"You pulled a gun on me, Avery," he said testily. "You haven't been the nicest either."

"Oh, Eliot, c'mon." She turned around to face him as she took her hair out of its bun and combed her fingers through it. "I'm sorry about the gun, I really am, but you haven't been happy since the minute I showed up, now what's the deal? Don't bother pretending it's nothing. I read people, sweetie, it's what I do." Avery bent down and slid her high heels back onto her feet, then walked over to Eliot. "You liked me the night we met, so what happened?"

"I wasn't plannin' on seeing you again," he said with a wry smile.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're a one-night-stand kind of guy." Avery rolled her eyes. "You weren't planning on seeing me again? Why not – because you didn't like me? Or because you did?" She grabbed him by the shoulders and gave him a smile. "Think about it and let me know. You've got my number. I'm still waiting on that phone call." Avery picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulder before walking out.

xxx

"They have to let us out of here eventually," Hardison said. He and Olivia had been locked in the moving van since last night, though they'd pulled them out once to go to the bathroom and get a drink of water.

"I'm not sure they think that's an option until they get what they've asked for from the others," Olivia said. Her stomach growled. She hadn't eaten since the day before and she was starving. "Do you have the time?"

Hardison checked the digital watch he'd been wearing when they'd been kidnapped. "Five o'clock."

"And the rendezvous with the others is when?" Olivia rested her cheek against her knees.

"Dunno," Hardison said. "Five-thirty? Six? Sometime soon. I hope, anyway."

He'd been pacing for awhile. Olivia had noticed he did that periodically. He'd sit still for awhile, then get up and pace, then sit again. Right now he was pacing, but Olivia expected him to sit back down any moment. As for her, she'd been sitting still for most of the day. Being in a dark, enclosed space for so long was starting to get to her. Olivia had always been claustrophobic. She let out a long, slow breath. Hardison turned to look at her. "You okay?"

Olivia bit her lip before answering. "I'm exhausted. I'm hungry. And it's getting – " She paused, closing her eyes. "It's getting harder to fight back a panic attack, but I'm doing all right. Are you okay?"

Hardison sat down in front of her. "Panic attack?"

She thought he sounded worried. Or annoyed. She couldn't read voices nearly as well as Avery could, especially in the dark when she couldn't see his face, and especially when her anxiety was acting up. "I'm sorry," she apologized. "I-it's all been under control for years and years but I haven't had my medication today and being in this van isn't doing much for my claustrophobia or my anxiety – " She stopped talking and dug her nails into her palms. Her heart beat hard against her chest and her breath shortened. Not now. She did not need a panic attack now.

"Olivia?" Hardison's voice sounded far away.

She had to fight it. Deep breaths. No, she couldn't. She couldn't breathe. Her chest was too tight and there was no air in here. They could both die. Maybe their kidnappers didn't care about the money and were just waiting for the chance to kill them. The rational, sane part of her mind told her that couldn't be true or they'd already be dead, but she was too deep into the anxiety attack to make herself believe it.

"Olivia!" Hardison grabbed her hands, making her uncurl her fists so she would stop digging her nails into her palms.

"I'm so dizzy," she said, feeling faint. "Is the van moving?"

"No, no," Hardison said gently. "We're still here." He put a hand on her face, getting her to look at him. "Hey. Olivia? Breathe, okay?"

Breathe. Just keep breathing. Slowly, Olivia forced herself to draw in a long breath through her nose, then let it back out. "This is worse than most attacks I have. I assure you, I've had my anxiety disorder under control for years."

"Yeah, well, most days you have your medication, huh?" Hardison was starting to come back into focus.

"Yes." Olivia let out another slow breath. Her heart started to slow down to a more normal pace. She squeezed Hardison's hands, just to make sure her fingers weren't numb. She was calmer. That was good. The attack hadn't lasted nearly as long as they had when they first started back in high school, but it was worse than anything that had happened recently. Not having her medication really did made a difference.

"You good?" Hardison asked.

"Well enough." Olivia took another deep breath. "It's passing." She gave him the best smile she could muster. "Thank you, Alec."

"Anytime." Hardison shifted his position so he could sit against the wall next to her.

"The sooner we get out of here, the better," Olivia said. "Do you think they'll negotiate with our kidnappers or – "

"If I know Nate he'll have something up his sleeve," Hardison cut in. He reached over and put a hand on her shoulder. "They're gonna get us out. Don't worry."

The door of the moving van clanged. Someone on the outside unlocked it and lifted it open. Evening sunlight poured in, making Olivia and Hardison squint. Half blinded by the sudden light, Olivia felt herself being grabbed by a man in a suit and handcuffed. Next to her, she heard Hardison protesting loudly as the same was done to him.

"It's time to go." A tall, dark-haired man stood just outside the moving van, his hands clasped behind his back. "And we'll see if your friends are as good at what they do as they think they are."

xxx

Malone and his men were waiting for them at the warehouse. Avery walked toward them with Nate and Sophie. Nate had the briefcase full of money in his hands. "Don't give it to them until we know Olivia and Hardison are alive," Avery said out of the corner of her mouth.

Nate nodded, looking a little annoyed. He probably already knew that, Avery thought, but it wasn't his cousin on the line. It was Avery's, and as she'd told Eliot, she wouldn't let anything come between her and getting Olivia back.

Malone looked up as they approached. He stood up straight and adjusted his well-tailored black suit. His dark eyes fell on Avery. "You've got quite some nerve coming back after your mishap with my employee earlier today."

"I made a mistake," Avery said, her head held high and eyes fixed on Malone's. "I won't let it happen again."

"I certainly hope not." Malone arched an eyebrow. "Weren't you with someone else today? Someone besides these two?"

"He had another commitment," Sophie said. She tilted her head and looked at Malone coolly. "Couldn't make it."

"We brought you your money," Nate said, equally cold. "Now release our friends."

"Don't be silly, Mr. Ford." Malone gave them a smug smile. "I won't be releasing your friends until I have my money safely in my car, which is parked on the other side of this warehouse. So hand over that briefcase, then we'll talk about your friends."

"Fair enough," Nate said steadily. "However, I'd like some proof that you've got them. How do I know they haven't escaped? Or, more likely, how do I know that they're not dead?"

With a sigh, Malone pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number. "Put the girl on the phone," he snapped at whoever answered. He clicked a button, switching the phone to speaker. "Olivia, sweetheart? Tell your friends you're alive."

Malone held out the phone and Avery heard Olivia's voice. "Avery? Avery? I'm all right. Alec and I are both alive, but Malone and the other kidnappers are keeping us separate, he's in a different vehicle – "

"Are you both okay?" Nate asked.

"Yes – yes!" Olivia said, sounding a little bit frantic. "I can see Alec. He's – "

Before Olivia could finish, Malone hung up the phone and tucked it back into his pocket. "Good enough for you?" he asked Nate.

"Yeah, I think that'll do," Nate said. Avery heard him whisper under his breath, "Eliot, you need to get Hardison out right now."

"Workin' on it, Nate!" Eliot and Parker were behind the warehouse. Eliot had knocked out the two guards next to the vans without much difficulty, and now Parker was working hard to break into the two vans. "Hurry up, Parker," Eliot snarled.

"Got it!" The lock on the first van clicked and Parker quickly stood up and skipped over to the second. Eliot yanked the door open and found Olivia, gagged with her hands cuffed behind her back in the backseat. He reached in and pulled the gag out of her mouth.

"Thank you!" she said shakily. "A – Alec's in the van next to this one – we can – um – what is the plan?"

"Don't worry," Eliot said. "Got it under control." Olivia's glasses had slipped halfway down her nose; Eliot fixed them for her before he pulled her out of the car. "Parker?"

Parker climbed out of the backseat of the second van, Hardison in tow. Eliot went to him and gave him a quick hug while Parker unlocked his handcuffs. "You okay, man?"

"Yeah, I'm – I'm good," Hardison said, looking a little shaken up but mostly unscathed.

"Good," Eliot said distractedly. He shoved his phone into Hardison's hand. "I need you to do something. Fast."

"Excuse me?" Hardison said in disbelief. "I been stuck in the back of a van for more than a day – I haven't eaten anything – I am lightheaded, man, you think I can – "

"Dammit, Hardison, just do it!" Eliot growled through gritted teeth.

Parker patted Olivia on the shoulder as she finished unlocking her handcuffs. "Don't worry about him," she said. "That's just how he is. Once you get to know him he's a lot nicer."

Inside the warehouse, Nate was wrapping up. "So I guess that's that," Nate said as he handed the briefcase full of money to Malone.

Malone opened the briefcase to check that the money was there and smiled. "I guess it is," he said, closing the case.

"And now your end of the deal?" Avery asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Let us leave through the back doors of the warehouse, wait here, and we'll send your friends in to you," Malone said. "Fair?"

"Sounds perfect," Sophie said.

"Good." Malone turned and he and his men walked out the back door.

Nate, Sophie, and Avery immediately made a beeline for the front door. "Parker, Eliot, they're coming your way! Eliot, meet us around front with Hardison and Olivia. Parker, you know what to do!"

Malone walked out the back door of the warehouse – to find himself and his men surrounded by police. "Jack Malone?" The cop stepped towards him, holding up his badge. "Detective Bonano. Boston P.D." Bonano tucked his badge back into his pocket. "Mr. Malone, you're under arrest for kidnapping and probably a lot of other crimes we can find evidence for!"

"This is ridiculous!" Malone said, setting down the briefcase and lifting his hands. "I've never – "

Bonano held up a small recording device and pressed play. Olivia Carpenter's voice played loud and clear. _"I'm all right. Alec and I are both alive, but Malone and the other kidnappers are keeping us separate, he's in a different vehicle – " _Bonano stopped the recording. "Got a call from a friend saying he had something interesting to play for me, something that'd help me finally take down Jack Malone. And Simon Drake too, for that matter! Turns out Drake deposited a strangely large sum of money into an off-shore account today, then withdrew another large amount. Looked like he was gonna make a run for it!"

"That's not true!" Malone protested. "The money was for me! Drake and I had a business deal! I have all the money right here!" He picked up the briefcase and opened it. It was empty.

Around the front of the building, Parker skipped toward Nate and the others, smiling broadly while carrying the briefcase – the real briefcase that contained all of Drake's money. "We did it!"

"We did," Nate said, taking the briefcase from her. "Thanks, Hardison, for switching Drake's account numbers like that. I know it's been a stressful couple of days for you – "

"Whatever, man," Hardison said, rolling his eyes. "Can we please just go eat?"

xxx

Back at McRory's Tavern, Olivia and Hardison devoured hamburgers and french fries like they hadn't seen food in weeks. Avery sat next to Olivia, her arm around her protectively even though Olivia seemed no worse for the wear now that she had food in her system.

Nate sat down across from them and slid a check across the table to Olivia. She looked up at him, mouth full of french fries. "What is this?"

"That's all the money Drake took from you with the scam," Nate said, tapping the check. "Plus a little extra." He shrugged. "Figure it ought to help you pay for a semester or two at school. At the very least."

Olivia picked up the check, her smiling broadening. "This is – this is actually substantially more than what Drake took from us." She looked at Nate, her eyes wide with delight. "Thank you so much! I never expected so much generosity – "

"Yeah, yeah," Nate said, smiling back at her. "Least we could do. Couldn't very well leave you hanging like that. Especially after all the danger we got you into."

Olivia beamed at Hardison. "Well, having Alec there was an enormous help."

"No problem, girl." Hardison reached across the table to give her a high five. "You keep in touch, got it? You and me, we need to talk."

Olivia laughed. Avery loved hearing Olivia laugh. It didn't happen very often, but she had this deep, throaty chuckle that made Avery smile. "I will!"

Avery patted Olivia on the shoulder. "We should get going, Liv." She got to her feet. "Thanks, Nate. Thank you so much for everything."

"You're welcome," Nate said. He looked up at her. "Maybe we'll see you again sometime."

Avery laughed. "Maybe! I hope so!" She and Olivia said goodbye to Nate and Hardison, then made for the door.

Eliot, Sophie, and Parker were sitting at the bar, drinking beers and chatting. Avery tapped Sophie on the shoulder, and Sophie got up to give her a hug. "Let's catch up sometime!" Sophie said earnestly. "I'm dying to know where you've been these past four years since I met you – somewhere off really honing those skills of yours, evidently."

"Definitely, Sophie!" Avery said, equally enthusiastic. She liked Sophie; she was probably the only one of Nate's crew Avery trusted completely. Well, almost completely. "You name the time and place. Eliot has my number, you can get it from him," she added, with a sly glance at Eliot, who spun around to face her.

"Come on," Avery said. "Admit it. You don't completely hate me."

Eliot shook his head. "No." He smirked slightly.

Avery leaned over and kissed his cheek. "Then give me a call sometime, and you can tell me why you're holding such a grudge."

"I'm not – " Eliot started to protest.

"Save it," Avery said with a laugh. "I'll see you around, Eliot." She patted him on the cheek, then for the second time in her life she turned her back on Eliot Spencer and walked out the door.


End file.
